Quote Originally Posted by Mike P
I guess it depends on how much effort and money you want to put into the car, which boils down to how much you are in love with it (or what it can be).

If this is a first project just to get your feet wet in hot rodding.... basically a "starter project" to become more involved in the hobby,then I would keep it simple. The mods to the 6 you're contemplating are good choices, it keeps it running with a minimum amount of down time and lets you enjoy events such as cruses, weekend drives, car shows etc. These cars currently (and likely in the future) are not a high demand car so it's not going to bring a lot (relatively speaking) when you do decide to sell it and if it is a starter car you will want to move along at some point. The more you put into the lesser desired cars the more likely you are to loose money when you and it part company.

On the other hand if you are really in love with this body style (or when you get "THE CAR" that you are in love with) then it's time to start planning on what it is you want to car for and to do. Things like do you want:

a show car
A cruiser
A racer
A restored car
somtething to take on long runs (Route 66/power cruise etc)

Anytime you build a car there are comprimises depending on what your priorities are.

In the case of the 53 (if this is the car you want to put a lot of money and effort into), then once you've set the parameters it will dictate what direction the project goes.

I wouldn't necessarly be TOO concerned about suspension and brake upgrades with a hopped up 6 (other than making sure that everything is with the stock specs) and drive it within the stock limitations of the car. On the other hand upgrading to a more powerful V8 would sure get me thinking about the possibility of a different front suspension and definatly upgraded brakes. Of course with the different engine you would still be looking at the same drivetrain upgrades that are required with the Hemi swap (tranny, cooling and rear end), basically just a smaller sized engie you'd have to deal with putting in. Along that line, I would spend a great deal of time looking at the 52 you saw and ask a LOT of questions to to owner to get a feel for just involved the project will be.
There's more common sense here than I could ever come up with. Great post Mike!!